The Enemy
by Arford
Summary: A little peek into the mind of a young Slytherin. One-shot (May be edited). Not sure what to list this under, so it will be Gen for now. Suggestions?


Everyone is the enemy.

Not just my enemy. Not just your enemy. But the enemy. All of them. All of us. Everyone is the opposite side.

But not everyone knows that.

Me? I wish I could say I knew that from the moment I first freed myself from the womb. But I didn't. I guess, given the circumstances, people would say that I learned this lesson at a young age.

But I should've learned when I was younger.

At first, I realized that I was alone. It was cold. It was dark. And the warm light was a lie since there was nothing to be happy about in the first place. It was just an illusion. There was no such thing as joy.

If there was, it probably became extinct before my existence.

That, or people undoubtedly claimed to have it in order to satisfy the proper social appearance.

I hated growing up because I was the only one who didn't do any growing. But I was the only one who knew what growing up really meant.

I wasn't allowed to be outside my cupboard for excessive amounts of time; Petunia said that it was no good for something like me. Vernon agreed and patted his son's back when the little whale repeated the end of his mother's sentences.

I knew they were scared. Scared because they knew that I wasn't like the rest.

Oh, no. I was the freak. The monstrosity.

I was 'boy' when I needed to be, I was 'Hadrian' in school, but I was mostly 'freak'.

When I first discovered what the words meant, I was hurt. I was torn that someone could despise me.

For what had I done to give others such grief?

I continued to think and wonder, day in and day out. Why me? I asked myself.

Silently, of course; it would do no good to even expose the fact that I knew what words were.

I can't recall exactly what day nor what year, but I do recall the occasion. It wasn't anything different, if you expected it to be.

Night was upon the house and everything was dark; Vernon's snoring was mirrored by his son's and Petunia apparently had forgotten to turn the telly off again. Even the spiders decided to leave me alone that time. Probably because they caught some flies.

The wood of the cupboard was comfortable as it could be, meaning it wasn't at all, but I suppose I was used to it already. The springs sticking out of the moth-eaten half-a-mattress that I claimed as my prized bed seemed to only gently prod my child's body.

Something, whatever it was, just clicked. I started to doze off as any child would, but I'm afraid I just couldn't. I just couldn't.

There was laughter. I didn't know who laughed; everyone else was asleep and this voice sounded nothing like the high shrieks emitted from Petunia's lips nor did it sound hearty and spiteful so it could not have been any of the male Dursleys' laughter.

No, this voice was deep and commanding. It just reveled in an emotion I had not yet encountered.

It was maddening, maddening to hear it. Eventually, it began to whisper words too.

I wasn't so sure I agreed with any of it until I could take bear it no more.

"Hate them," it whispered. "Despise them. They are not you, therefore they are less than you."

I didn't know how to respond to that, so I waited patiently for it to continue.

"Do not bring yourself to their mercy. Do not give them your heart, only for them to crush it. Hate them for the hate they give you. Don't you see?"

The next thing it said woke me up. It was like my mind had been cleared and given a genuine epiphany.

Everything was revealed. And everything made sense.

"They are the enemy. You are the enemy. Everyone is the enemy."

And with that, the voice just vanished. It didn't come back, not for the longest time.

But by then, I was already wary of it. It was suspicious and it was unknown. This it was the voice of an enemy.

Ever since I had listened to the voice and heeded its warnings, I stopped caring. For others, that is. Oh, I may have looked like any other boy and you would be right to point out that I _was_ just another little one.

After all, wasn't that what you wanted to see?

And I let you have your little dreams.

You, after all, are the enemy.

And you know what they say; "Place your allies close, and hold your enemies even closer."

Unfortunately...

There are no such things as friends.

"Avada Kedavra."


End file.
